Could this be true? With these guys' track record?

what would balto do?

This story in PJ Media says that the Fauci kits being shipped to Americans who request one (I am not one of them) must be stored above freezing, or they lose their accuracy.

Canadians are familiar with cold weather. They also troubled themselves to factor in the effects cold weather can have on “free” COVID-19 test kits when they devised their distribution plans.

Canadian news site Global News reported back on Jan. 6 that “COVID-19 rapid antigen tests can’t be mailed due to temperature requirements:”

Kawartha MPP Dave Smith says mailing COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits to Ontario residents now would not be logistical because the kits need to be transported and stored at above-freezing temperatures.

Smith said the testing fluid within a kit must remain between a range of 2 C to 30 C (as outlined by Ontario Health), making it logistically impossible to mail them across Ontario during the winter months.

Huh, that sounds like something our government should have known. Oh, wait, they did know it. This official info sheet posted on the CDC website says “Store kit at 2-30°C (35.6-86° F). Do not freeze kits.”

It’s hard to believe this wasn’t taken into consideration. Maybe it only applies to that one brand of test kit on the info sheet, the Abbott BinaxNOW variety?

CBS affiliate KREM looked into that very issue. “Do cold temperatures affect the results of an at-home COVID antigen test?” they wondered. They concluded that “The answer may vary depending on the brand,” before going on to list the storage temperature requirements for the leading test brands. Spoiler alert: the lowest temperature the most cold-tolerant of them can be stored at is 35.6º F. Tests that have been stored outside the recommended temperature parameters might still work … sometimes … or they might not. False-negative results are a worrisome possibility with tests that have been frozen, if they work at all.